Method of and apparatus for electroplating.



G. A. LUTZ. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ELEGTROPLATING.

APPLICATION I'ILBD JUNE 27, 1908.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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GEORGE A. LUTZ, OFILAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CIRCULAR LOOM COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A OORPORATION'OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed June 27, 1908.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Serial No. 440,774.-

To all ivlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen A. LUTZ, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Electroplating, of which the following is a specification.

In simultaneously electro plating the interior and exterior of hollow articles, such as pipes and the like, if the electric current is allowed to flow continuously through the anode within such article during the whole length of time that the current flows through the anode or anodes exterior to such article, a thicker plating will be deposited upon the interior 0 the article than upon its exterior, and where such thicker inner lating is not required there is considerab e loss occasioned by such extra plating on the interior of the article.

The object of my invention is to simultaneously plate the exterior and the interior of hollow articles, such as pipes, and to regulate or control the plating of the interior of the hollow article to the end that such platmg may be approximately of the same thickating on the exterior of the article.

In carrying out my invention I support a hollow article within an electrolytic bath,

with one or more anodes within such article and one or more anodes in the bath without such article, the inner and outer anodes being connected with one side of an electric circuit, and the article to be lated connected with the other sid'e'of sai circuit, and I cause the electric current to flow simultaneously throughsaid inner and outer anodes for a desired period of time, substantially suflicient .to provide the r uired platin upon the interior of the arti le, and then I cut oil the flow of current throu h the inner anode or anodes while ermitt ng the current to continue to flow or a further desired period of time through the outer anode or anodes, all whereby the inner and outer sur-' faces of the hollow article may be plated respectively for any desired thickness of plating. The cutting ofi the current from the.

inner anode or anodes is efiected without stopping the. flow of current through the outer anode or anodes, enablin' the electro plating of the article to be continuously car ried on both within and without the same Without interruption, until the inner and outer surfaces are plated as desired, all whereby economy is eiiected in time and operation in handling the articles, and saving electro plating material and power, producin an improved article for the purpose inten ed.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated an apparatus by means of which my improved method of electro plating may be carried out, and wherein the How of the current through the anode or anodes within the article to be plated may be automatically regulated in accordance with the time desired for the flow of the current, although such flow may be controlled by hand operation or in any other suitable manner.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a partly sectional and partly diagrammatic view illustrating means for carrying out my invention, and Fig. 2 is a top view of the electro plating tank with the cathode plate removed.

The hollow article 1 to be plated, such as a pipe, is placed within a suitable tank 2 adapted to contain an electrolytic bath, and

'at 3 is indicated a cathode plate from which tank 2 located exterior to pipe 1 and shown suspended by hooks 7 from a conductor ring 8 supported within the tank, as by brackets 9. Ring 8 and thereby anodes 6 are connected with one terminal of a suitable gen.- erator 10, as by conductor 11, the other terminal of which generator is connected by conductor 12 with cathode plate 3; the inner anode or anodes 4 are connected by a suitable conductor 13 with conductor 11, or with the corres onding terminal of the generator, whereby t inner and outer anodes may be simultaneously included in the circuit of the generator. To control the circuit of the mner anode or anodes 4 without disturbing the circuit of the outer anode or anodes 6, a suitable switch 14 is shown included in the circuit 13, whereby said circuit may be open to cut out anode or anodes 4 while the current continues to flow through anodes 6. Where it is desired to automatically control the circuit of the inner anode or anodes such circuit may be provided with a clock-controlled make and break device which will close such circuit and then open the same automatically as desired. For this purpose I have shown conductor 13 as divided and provided with spring contacts 13', 13", the latter contact bearing continuously against a metal disk 15 controlled or supported by the hour-hand arbor or sleeve of a suitable clock 16, the disk 15 being adapted to make and break circuit with contact 13". For this purpose I have shown the periphery of disk 15 provided with insulating pieces 15 arranged at suitable distances apart, whereby as disk 15 revolves and the insulating pieces 15" engage contact 13 the circuit of the inner anode 4 will be broken and when contact 13 engages disk 15 said circuit will be closed. The spacing of insulating pieces 15 with'respect to the intermediate metal portions 15 of disk 15 may be proportioned as desired according to periods of time, as for instance, each 5 minutes the circuit may be broken and closed for any given period, say each 21; minutes, whereby for the period of 5 minutes current will flow through the outer anodes continuously while during such time the current will flow through the inner anode or anodes for only a portion of such period.

My improved method of electroplating may be carried out as follows: The article to be plated being placed in the bath and the circuits of the generator closed current will flow through both the inner and outer anodes simultaneously, causing the electro deposit of the material upon the interior and exterior of the pipe or other article simultaneously, and when the interior surface of such article has been plated suflicientl the circuit of the inner anode or anodes wi 1 be broken, as by hand operation of switch 14, or by the clock controlled contacts, and the current will continue to flow throu h the outer anodes for a further eriod 0 time without requiring pipe 1 to e moved, and when the exterior of the pipe is sufficiently plated it may be removed from the tank and another pipe inserted, and so on.

Instea of starting to plate the article with the current flowing through both the outer and inner anodes simultaneously, and then cutting out the inner anode, the current may be caused to flow first through the outer anode or anodes for a desired length of time, and then the current may be caused to flow through the inner anode or anodes while still continuing to flow through the outer anode or anodes until the desired thickness of plating on the interior and exterior of the 'article is accomplished, or the plating may be started by first passing the current through the outer anode or anodes, then after a period cutting into the circuit the inner anode or anodes, and then after a eriod cutting out the inner anode or ano es and permittin the current to flow through the outer ano e or anodes for a further period. In either of the above namedways the current is caused to flow simultaneously through the .inner and outer anodes with a longer period of flow of the current throu h the outer anode or anodes than through t e inner anode or anodes. By the method described the amount of plating on the interior and exterior of hollow articles may be readily determined and pro ortioned, so that substantially approximateIy the same thickness of lating may be placed upon the interior and eXtenor of the article, or the interior or exterior may be thicker than the exterior or interior,-respectively, as required, according to the period of time that the current flows through the inner or outer anodes, the plating operation being continuous and regular, with economy in time, labor and cost of material and theproduction of improved electro-plating. I

While 1 have shown provision for plating a single article, such as pipe 1, it will be understood that several of such articles or pipes may be plated simultaneously in the same bath by suitabl arran ed circuits in manner obvious to t ose ski led in the art.

Having now described my invention what I claim is 1. The method of electro-plating the interior and exterior of a hollow article consisting in simultaneously passin electric current through anodes within an without such article and causingthe current to flow for a longer period of time through one of the anodes than through the other anode.

2. The method of electro-plating the interior and exterior of a hollow article consisting in simultaneously plating the interior and exterior surfaces thereof for a period of time and plating the outer surface for a longer period of time than the inner surface.

3. The method of electro-plating the interior and exterior of a hollow article consisting in simultaneously platin the interior and exterior surfaces thereof or a period of time, and causing more current to flow through one of the anodes than the other.

4. he method of electro-plating the interior and exterior of a hollow article consisting in simultaneously passing electric current through anodes within and without such article, and causing more current to flow through the outeranode than through the inner anode.

5. The method of electro-plating the interior and exterior of a hollow article consisting in simultaneously passin electric current through anodes within an without the article, and then cutting off the current from the inner anode and causing the current to continue to flow through the outer anode for a desired eriod of time.

6. An electro-plating apparatus comprising a tank, means to support a hollow article therein, means to simultaneously support anodes Within and without said article, a generator having one side of the circuit connected With the inner and outer anodes, and means in the circuit of the inner anode for automatically breaking said circuit independently of the circuit of the outer anode.

7. An eleetro-plating apparatus comprising a tank, means to support a hollow article therein, means to simultaneously support anodes within and without said article, a generator having one side of the circuit connectedwith the inner and outer anodes, and a clock-controlled make and break mechanism in the circuit of the inner anode to automatically make and break said circuit independently of the circuit of the outer anode.

Signed at New York cit in the county of New York, and State 0 New York, this 25th day of June, A. D. 1908.

GEORGE A. LUTZ.

Witnesses:

J. H. Gonrrz, T. F. BOURNE. 

